Strangler Guilty Despite AIDS Tale
A man who claimed he helped an AIDS victim commit suicide was convicted of second-degree murder Tuesday by a San Diego Superior Court jury.
John Cleaves, 42, a transient, was found guilty of murder in the strangling of Dennis Eaton, 40, in his Hillcrest apartment Sept. 11.
Eaton, a nurse, was strangled on his bed with a bathrobe sash while fully clothed.
Cleaves, a homosexual, testified last week that Eaton, also a homosexual, picked him up at 3:30 a.m. in Hillcrest and told him he suffered from AIDS and wanted someone to help him commit suicide. Cleaves said Eaton gave him his car, clothes and access to his bank account before he died.
A pathologist testified that Eaton tested positive for the AIDS virus, but had no health problems when he died.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Kristin Anton told jurors that it would be unlikely for Eaton to ask a stranger to help him commit suicide and that Eaton may not have known he tested positive for the AIDS virus. Anton said Eaton had not been depressed and had not missed any work because of illness.
Superior Court Judge Louis Boyle set sentencing for Aug. 8.
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